


Adhesion

by EventHorizons13



Series: A Matter of Entropy [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen, One Shot, Physics, Professor Rodney McKay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28342260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EventHorizons13/pseuds/EventHorizons13
Summary: A chance encounter on a bad day has Natalia reeling. She doesn't expect a second encounter as her thesis defense draws closer.
Series: A Matter of Entropy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075520
Comments: 1





	Adhesion

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! So this was just a random thought that came to mind after reading a few other Rodney fics. Rodney would make one hell of a professor. It felt fun to do a non-Atlantis AU. We can all imagine Rodney's surprise and intrigue if he found someone who could actually understand what he was talking about? Here it is.

It had been the absolute day from hell for Natalia. Her landlord had lost her rent money for the month and was demanding more. It didn’t matter that he had taken it from her directly. The man was shady as all hell. It wasn’t like there was a way for her to fight that. She didn’t have a receipt or anything proof that he had taken the money to begin with. That was before her shift and the man certainly knew how to cause one hell of a headache with his ranting. Then, she had gotten to work and found out that she was left on her own, her coworker calling in sick. It was rare that Charlie ever did call out or get sick and there was a moment of worry for the man before it gave way to a horrid realization that she was going to be working the entire shift alone. There wouldn't be any backup called in, who needed that? The manager felt that they were all capable of handling the store on their own. It was only a small coffee shop. She pulled on her apron and resigned herself to the suffering that was going to come raining down on her head. 

She hadn't been wrong. People were demanding and seemingly lacked any sort of basic human compassion. They wanted their coffee and wanted to move on. It didn't matter that she was manning everything in the small shop on her own. It didn’t come as a surprise but it didn’t make it any easier to have to handle. She was ready for a nervous breakdown shortly after the start of her shift. Every other coffee, she was having to take a second and breathe deeply to make sure that she maintained her composure. 

She had two more months and her thesis would be complete, she wouldn't have to deal with the coffee shop nightmare anymore. She could actually get a real job and do what she loved. For now though, it was her only source of any significant income.

By mid day, she was frazzled and close to telling someone off, job be damned. If she didn't need the money for rent, she would say fuck it entirely and just move on. She let out a slow breath, once again centering herself, and prepared for the next customer. 

As she stepped to the counter, there was something familiar about the man but her addled brain couldn't entirely place it. The order spit at her was specific and it took her a second to process it all. With a nod and a tight smile, she began to work on the coffee, still trying to place the man. Why was he so familiar? With a coffee order so specific, she knew if she messed it up, her headache was only going to worsen. She couldn’t take another person spewing bullshit about their coffee at her.

It was only when his friend called out that she placed where she knew the man.

"We are on a timetable here Rodney."

"Yes well if you want me to deal with any of you, I need coffee. Coffee means caffeine. Caffeine means tolerance. Especially for the two of you." For the first time in a long time, she fumbled. The coffee nearly went all over her as she tried to compose herself. The last thing she wanted was this man thinking she was a complete idiot. 

"Uh, Dr. McKay?" It was worth embarrassing herself if she was completely wrong. 

"What?" The man snapped before realizing that she had addressed him by name. "How do you know me?" 

"Your latest paper on harnessing the particles in a black hole was amazing." Great, now she sounded like a damn groupie and not someone who would be working in the field soon. She needed to reign it in and offer something intelligent but nothing else seemed to want to come out. She had had questions, surely she could remember them. But, her brain and mouth didn’t want to connect.

"You read my paper?" He seemed surprised. "You understood it?" That was what seemed to flabbergast him more.

"I did. My thesis is based on dark matter but I still get my hands on anything related. The fields may open game but no one is doing work like yours." 

"Rodney!" He absently waved his hand backwards. 

"Where are you studying? I haven't seen you in any of my classes." She was talking to a man who was a genius in the field, even if others didn't always want to acknowledge it. He could make or break anything that she might want to do. 

"No, I'm not there. I'm uh, at UCLA. Caltech was my first choice but the money wasn't there." It was funny since they were only about thirty minutes from one another. He nodded slowly, a thoughtful look on his face. She didn't want to know what it was about. Instead of letting the conversation get too much further, out of fear of embarrassment and most certainly pissing his friend off further, she handed over his coffee. The customers behind him were getting rather disgruntled too. He wasn't the only one who needed caffeine. 

"Hm, what? Oh yes. Thanks." He held up the coffee cup and moved off, just like that. It was all over and she let out a sigh, upset with herself. It could have gone worse but it certainly could have gone better. She didn’t offer anything of substance about his paper, just that it was amazing. She felt like bashing her head against the counter. Her professors had laughed when she had approached with questions about the paper. She had the man in front of her and acted a fool. Her saving grace? It wasn't like she would see him again. She had worked here for the better part of two years and hadn't seen him come through before. The likelihood of it happening again had to be low. It wasn’t likely she would get a job that would put her in close proximity to the man either. But at that point, she could hope that he wouldn’t remember who she was and it would be a fresh start.

That meeting had been the only bright spot of the day. By the end of the evening, she had ended up covered in coffee from a rather angry customer who didn't understand that a heavy amount of milk was going to make his coffee lukewarm at best instead of hot. Feeling miserable, she climbed the stairs to her small apartment, knowing that at least she was making headway for the rent payment her idiot of a landlord lost. 

She replayed the meeting with Dr. McKay over in her mind, shaking her head at herself. Again, she thought that she could have at least offered some sort of intelligent comment on the paper rather than just gushing over it like an idiot. Just saying it was amazing didn’t show that she understood it. If she ever got another chance, she had to do better and promised herself she would as she stepped into the shower. 

\-----------------

The chance encounter had been nearly gotten about a month later. On her break, she was pouring over a series of papers and books. Her pen was making vicious scribbles and notes. She had a month to hone everything in and prepare for the defense. Every moment that wasn't spent at the college teaching or working behind the counter at the coffee shop was dedicated to it. She wanted everything spot on, wanted to make sure that no one could poke any holes in her thesis. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for every question that could be asked of her. The panel had a few traditionally well known hard asses. They would be all over any tiny mistake or sense that she wasn't sure about something like sharks with blood in the water. Making sure everything was as bulletproof as possible was the only thing that consumed her mind. It was her ticket out of the coffee shop and out of her crummy little apartment.

She had dedicated a couple of years of her life to this and it was important to her. A good thesis would help lay the groundwork for her to step into research outside of academia. She could make a good impression and hopefully someone else would catch on and offer her a job. 

So engrossed in the work, she didn't notice the throat clearing behind her or the way that the chair across from her slid out. It was only when the book she was looking at was close did her attention finally drift from the project at hand. 

"Hey!" Her head jerked up and the anger was clear in her voice. It immediately died down when she saw who had taken a seat across from her. "Oh. Um, hello Dr. McKay." There was a smile on the man’s face, amused at the anger that had been there and the indignation that had come from her.

“I wasn’t sure there was any other way to get your attention.” She could feel some heat coming to her cheeks at the comment, setting aside the pen that was nearly empty anyway. “What are you working on?” His head cocked to the side and he reached for the paper she had been scribbling on, helping himself to it like he had the right. She couldn’t stop him, too nervous about what he might say. 

“My thesis,” She managed to get out in a somewhat steady voice. “I have a month before I defend it.” His eyes scanned the page and she held her breath. If he thought it was trash, then she wasn’t going to be able to defend this to the panel. All she could hope for was at least a halfway decent. The seconds ticked by and he remained silent, making those nerves worse and worse.

“This actually isn’t bad. I mean, the field is over done but the argument seems fairly solid.” He looked up from the paper. 

“Thank you.” It was the only thing she could say at the moment, flabbergasted to have gotten such praise from the man. He nodded and set the paper down. 

“What do you plan on doing after you graduate?” She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going but she wasn’t about to be rude. 

“I would like to continue research but I am not sure where. I guess it is all going to be dependent on who would want to hire me after graduation. I have eyed a few places. I doubt that UCLA is going to turn around and offer a job. Everyone has tenure and it doesn’t look like anyone is retiring any time soon. Not many of the other universities are hiring at the moment either. I know the Air Force is always hiring in this area but it isn’t exactly ideal. I think the Department of Energy had a few jobs listed.” He hummed, though didn’t seem too impressed with any of the options. 

“Not bad options. Though working for the government has its drawbacks.” She nodded.

“I know. I don’t own my research if I work for the government.” He nodded.

“You also have to work on what they tell you to. Less freedom everywhere.” 

“Might have to be something that I deal with. Not that I want to but I can’t really wait around without money.” Another hum came from the man. “Not the way it should happen but unfortunately, it’s not like I have the means to do much about it.” 

“Right.” He tapped his finger against the paper. “You might want to look over this constant. The equation doesn’t make sense.” She reached for the paper and pulled it close, once again going over the equation that he pointed out. Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what about it was wrong. He wouldn’t have pointed it out otherwise. Right? She went over it a few times, keeping the math working in her head the entire time. Then she remembered something from his paper. 

“Are you talking about the fact that the particles would actually split, therefore the constant doesn’t work.” 

“Yes, though technically your work is right in the area that you were focused on.” He seemed pleased that she had figured it out. “So you don’t need to change anything. But at least you recognized it. More than what I can say for others.” Getting praise from the man was surreal. Natalia had followed his work for some time. There was a second before he seemed to remember something.

“I never got your name.” 

“Natalia Allen.” She held out her hand, which he shook. She would have never guessed that she would be sitting in a small cafe, talking with one Dr. Rodney McKay and yet here she was. 


End file.
